Revisiting the Favorite Week Purchase Option

Disney Vacation Club introduced a guaranteed week purchase option back in 2011 beginning with Aulani, Disney Vacation Club Villas. The option is a throw-back to the original 1970s timeshare concept in which buyers were obligated to visit a specific resort during a specific week for the duration of their ownership. In that same vein, Disney Vacation Club buyers can purchase their preferred resort and room type, and be guaranteed a reservation every single year until the contract ends.

Currently dubbed the Favorite Week program, buyers are required to purchase a number of points equal to the 2023 cost of their week plus an additional 10%.  For example, a Lake View Resort Studio at the Grand Floridian during weeks 1-4 (January), which would normally cost 153 points, requires a purchase of 168 DVC points as part of a Favorite Week. The Favorite Week is written into the buyer's contract, and the applicable accommodation is booked on their behalf each year before the room is even made available to other resort owners. 

In one sense, the 10% premium may be viewed as a penalty for buying a Favorite Week. Why spend 168 points for a week when you could book the same villa for just 153 points? That is a valid criticism. However there are several advantages to owning a Favorite Week:

1) No risk of not getting the room. In a time when members are undeniably drawn to certain high-demand room types, resorts, dates and room classes (e.g. Value and Standard View rooms), the Favorite Week is pre-booked on the member's behalf with zero risk of missing-out on the room. 

2) The owner can opt out of the Favorite Week in any year of their choosing. Our Week 1 Favorite Week owner could reject their week for 2024, giving them 168 Grand Floridian points to use with the same rights and privileges as all other owners. 

3) Favorite Week owners are exempt from any future changes to their specific unit's point charts. When the Grand Floridian's fixed week program debuted back in 2013, a guaranteed Lake View Studio in Week 42 (October)  required the purchase of 168 DVC points. As of 2023, that same week and room type booked at 11 months will cost 188 points. Even though the guaranteed week buyer paid a premium as many as 9 years ago, their confirmed week now costs fewer points than other resort owners booking at 11 months. 

4) Lastly, the Favorite Week remains attached to the contract if it is ever re-sold. By contract, no more than 35% of villas for a specific date & type can be sold as guaranteed weeks. Long time Disney Vacation Club owners will attest to the fierce competition for some popular dates and room types. With only about 1/3 of rooms of each type available as a Favorite Week, some supplies may be scarce. This scarcity could benefit the owner should they ever look to sell their Favorite Week contract. 

Favorite Weeks are offered at a total of six Disney Vacation Club resorts. Links to the resorts' Favorite Week point charts and calendars can be found below:

• Aulani, Disney Vacation Club Villas
• Copper Creek Villas & Cabins at Disney's Wilderness Lodge
• Disney's Polynesian Villas & Bungalows
• Disney's Riviera Resort
• The Villas at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
• The Villas at Disneyland Hotel

For the last several years, Disney Vacation Club did not market any Favorite Week accommodation priced at fewer than 150 points. However, with the recent change to a 100-point minimum purchase, buyers can now select any option where the full week totals 100 or more points. This leaves about a dozen weeks in a duo studio at The Villas at Disneyland Hotel where the Favorite Week is not offered, but opens up new alternatives at all six resorts. 

Annual dues are calculated based upon the stated number of points purchased as a guaranteed week.  

Thanks to Chris from dvc.market for information contained within.